


Determination

by sera12105



Series: DETERMINATION [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Determination (Undertale), Dreamtale AU, Gen, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-02-27 04:15:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13240218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sera12105/pseuds/sera12105
Summary: Years after losing him to a Determination overdose, Dream finds what used to be his brother.He will wake Nightmare up, no matter the cost.





	1. 1: Prologue

It had been years.  
More than three years since Dream had seen heads nor tails of his brother.

He missed him.

When he caught wind of a dark creature terrorizing the AUs, he dismissed the thought.  
It was probably just Error. Him and Ink were always up in arms with eachother.

That's what he thought until he found it.  
He knew it was Nightmare right away.

He'd never forgotten what that thing looked like.  
Not after it took his brother away.  
Not after his brother lost himself.

Finally making it into an unpopulated AU, the thing had gotten cornered into the lab.  
It was going to be hell to capture it.

But he had to.


	2. 2: Capture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was finally contained.
> 
> But now what?

The beast was just as horrifying as he remembered. But seeing it cooped up in the labs like some sort of trapped animal, Dream felt sorry for it. He was the only one that knew why it acted like this.

He was the only one who knew that the thing used to be.  
And it was for that reason that he had to help it.

The first few meetings were a mess. It pitched around the rooms like it were being attacked. It let out an unholy screech on sight. It treated him as both predator and prey.

Although it felt wrong to treat his brother this way, a trap was the only safe solution to catch him.   
But he needed help getting something that would hold the demon.

That help ended up being Sci, who had had enough experience with amalgamates on his own time. Although the thing was more than just an amalgamate, it was still the most accurate way to treat it. Within just hours, Sci had plenty of measures set up to ensure the beast would be lead straight where it needed to be, and with a bit of a goose chase, it finally trapped itself.

Dream felt horrible at the noises it made. Hearing the screeching, anyone else would be fearful, disgusted.  
But he knew the real cause of the cries.

Pain.

He had a good guess how much pain it was in, remembering how bad it had been before Nightmare lost it.  
After the overdose, he was bedridden within a day, and by the end of the week he had an incoherent mess. Only pain remained in the creature's mind. A numbing, overwhelming pain that pushed out any semblance of rational thought. Any semblance of self.

So when it was finally trapped, he dreaded what they might have to do, or what they might not be able to.  
He had heard how unpleasant Extractors were.   
But there was no other option, and it wasn't even guaranteed.

He took the time to remain with the beast, talking to it. Apologizing for everything it had to go through. Even if it couldn't understand. It was the least he could do, knowing what would be coming.

The Extractor was their only choice.  
And he hated it.


	3. 3: Admittedly The Worst Part

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The recovery process wasn't as soft and fluffy as he'd hoped.

He screamed. 

Dream didn't blame him.  
The extractor wasn't known for being a pleasant experience. The only thing he didn't like was the way it had to be done. Extracting too much Determination in one go could kill him, so it had to be done in short bursts.

The worst part was how person-like the screaming became during later appointments. No longer the screeching of a beast far too gone, but the distorted cries of something far too hurt. Even Sci had to admit it was inhumane.

It still threw fits, going off at seemingly nothing and trying to claw its way out. But to no avail.  
Screeching like it was being tortured. Dream knew it essentially was.

After numerous 'treatments', the thing finally settled to the corner of its containment, huddled in on itself. It no longer posed a threat to anyone, choosing to shrink away and gutter something undecipherable. Its tentacles were gone, and it seemed... smaller. More fragile. The fits became less frequent, but still

He wasn't able to be there for all the appointments. He should've been. Finally, one day working with Swap and Ink, he was called off duty for what Sci could only describe as... "something happened."

Nightmare was still as he came in, silent and unmoving.  
He wasn't expecting to see beneath the sludge. partially uncovered, a small section of white.  
Dream held his brother and wept. He hadn't known if anything was left of him, if there was anything to recover.

They'd gotten back a skeleton, but at what cost? He didn't move, aside from the occasional fit of screaming and thrashing about.. Sci had him moved to a more hospitable environment, more like a recovery room than a cage. Even so, he still had to be restrained.

For his own protection, Dream told himself.  
It still didn't make it feel any less wrong.


	4. 4: Return To Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The End.

Visiting your brother in a makeshift hospital room strapped down to a bed isn't really reassuring.  
But it stopped Nightmare from hurting himself, so it was worth the indignity.

He was becoming increasingly calm over the last few weeks, slowly settling into an unresponsive but stable state.  
Sci explained that he was likely having trouble perceiving his surroundings. Mind somewhat fried from the state he'd been in for the last couple years, he was shutting down in an attempt to recover some sort of functionality.

He didn't move often, if at all. He didn't speak, it was impossible to figure out whether or not he could actually understand when anyone spoke to him. 

But he was alive.  
He wasn't a monster.  
And he was safe.

And, even after weeks of therapy...  
Even if he had to re-learn to walk...  
If he was only able to follow the most basic commands...  
He was like a child...

Dream had him back.

True, he had to be supervised. Dream never let him out of sight.   
He helped him eat, he took him for walks, he even took him on some missions with Blue and Ink.   
Only the safe ones, of course!

But he was back.  
And that's all Dream could ever ask for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...?


End file.
